Late Rally Falls Short as No. 21 LSU Edges No. 22 Butler, 75-71

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Butler has put together
quite a few upsets in recent NCAA tournaments. Marcus Thornton kept
LSU off that list.

Thornton scored 30 points while coming through with one critical
basket after another for hot-shooting LSU, which held off a late
rally to beat the Bulldogs 75-71 on Thursday in the first round of
the NCAA tournament.

Tasmin Mitchell had 14 points and Chris Johnson added 12 points
and four blocked shots for the Tigers (27-7), seeded eighth in the
South Regional. They built an early 13-point lead and shot 49
percent against one of the nation's toughest defenses in advancing
to Saturday's second round against the North Carolina-Radford
winner.

"Did we think we were going to blow them out? We haven't blown
anybody out all year long," coach Trent Johnson said. "We have a
couple of guys that can make some plays, and when those guys don't
make plays, we have some other guys that are not afraid to step up
and shoot the ball."

The Bulldogs (26-6) made things interesting by twice pulling
within three in the final minute, the last coming when Willie
Veasley tipped in Gordon
Hayward's missed 3 with 5.4 seconds left, making it 74-71.
Johnson hit one of two free throws with 4.5 seconds left to seal
it.

Hayward, Butler's top 3-point shooter, finished with 12 points
for the Bulldogs. The Horizon League regular-season champions were
beaten in the first round for the first time since 2000.

"Of anything you take from this game, you no longer have the
chance," Butler coach Brad
Stevens said. "The chance is now gone, and, you know, nothing
is guaranteed. For us, we have to be terrific in the regular season
if we don't win our conference tournament, and we recognize that.
So you have to maximize every day."

These Bulldogs nearly did.

Considered one of the nation's most dangerous mid-majors, they
had knocked off Maryland, Wake Forest, Louisville and Mississippi
State in past tournaments. And playing with an inexperienced lineup
that included three freshman starters in what was considered a
rebuilding year, they shook off a rough first half and moved into
position to add LSU to that list when Zach
Hahn hit a free throw to tie it at 58 with 5:15 remaining.

But Terry Martin stuck back Garrett Temple's missed 3-pointer 15
seconds later, and Thornton knocked down a 3 from the right wing at
the 4:08 mark to give LSU some breathing room, and the defense kept
the Bulldogs at bay until the wild final minute.

"Team defense, that's how you win games," Thornton said. "We
locked up at the end of the stretch."

Maybe so, but those big shots he hit also helped. The senior
guard establish himself as the biggest reason why the Tigers are in
the tournament for the first time since they advanced to the
national semifinals three years ago.

One of three Baton Rouge natives in the starting lineup,
Thornton could have been a key member of that Final Four team had
academic problems not led him to a junior college in Texas while
Mitchell and Temple logged meaningful minutes.

Certainly, Thornton is making up for lost time.

The Southeastern Conference's player of the year was 10-of-15
from the field and hit three of his four 3-pointers in his first
30-point game since last month against Georgia. Five of his baskets
came when it was a one-possession game in the second half,
including an impressive turnaround jumper with 14 1/2 minutes left
that put the Tigers back up 43-42.

"We have a play call, you know, we've been running it all year
and nobody can stop it," Thornton said. "So, I just took whatever
they gave me."

At times, Thornton had his way with a tough Butler defense that
entered allowing opponents to shoot just 38 percent.

"I felt if we could hold them under 70, we'd win," Stevens said.
"We just didn't do that."

The Tigers dominated early, seemingly out to prove that they
were underseeded. Their long, athletic defense - led by Johnson, a
6-foot-11 center - played havoc with Butler's deliberate,
space-conscious offense by holding the Bulldogs to one field goal
during the first 11 minutes.

At the 8-minute mark, LSU had blocked more shots (three) than
Butler had made (two).

"We never got overwhelmed with the lead we had in the first
half, because the game's never over," Mitchell said. "We were going
into the game hoping we could get the big lead on them, but this is
the NCAA tournament."

Johnson eventually wound up in foul trouble, and the Bulldogs
got themselves back into the game. The shot-altering big man picked
up his third foul during Butler's surge of nine straight points,
and Veasley's alley-oop dunk with 15 minutes left made it 42-41.

"We told Chris to come out aggressive, don't worry about the
fouls," Mitchell said. "Just be careful, but always play with your
intensity, and that's what he did. He came back out with three
fouls, played like he didn't have none."